The end of the beta of the sandbox MMORPG ArcheAge has now been analyzed. Researchers want to draw conclusions from it about an apocalypse in the real world.
In autumn 2014, a beta for ArcheAge took place, which ended with a “hard wipe”. All progress was deleted before the release of ArcheAge.
Researchers from California analyzed 270,000,000 data points to find out how players behaved at the end of the beta. They want to draw conclusions about how humanity would behave in the face of the apocalypse.
According to the researchers, there are clear parallels between the end of a beta and the end of the world.
Above all, the researchers focused on a saying by Martin Luther “If I knew that tomorrow the world would go to ruin, I would still plant an apple tree today.” The meaning is: even in the face of his own death, Luther would still work for the progress of humanity, wanting to leave something behind.
With this saying in mind: How do players behave in the event of an apocalypse? How do they spend their time when they know: tomorrow nothing will be there. Tomorrow everything is over.
The results are not as positive as with Luther, but humanity is not as terrible as apocalyptic scenarios like Mad Max suggest.
No one plants apple trees when the world ends
In short: players tend to end quests, level-up, and other progress activities like planting trees. But the “social aspects of the game” increase. Only a few became murderers in the game and attacked each other. Rather, positive trends emerged. Players talked to each other, teamed up to solve high-level quests. Existing social bonds were strengthened, and new relationships were formed.
However, no parallels could be drawn to Luther’s saying about the apple tree. There is a difference between dying alone – as Luther surely meant – and children having an apple tree as a keepsake. Or whether the world really comes to an end.
There are undoubtedly differences between a virtual apocalypse and the actual end of the world. However, researchers rely on such virtual apocalypses. A real apocalypse is still missing in the history of mankind.
In ArcheAge, hardly anyone planted an apple tree anymore; instead, players spent the end of the world more in the company of others.
In the free-to-play MMORPG ArcheAge, players enjoy many freedoms in character development. A vast world awaits that can be influenced. Sandbox features, such as...
